Paris to host new Palestinian donor conference: ministers

PARIS- Paris will host a new international donor conference for a Palestinian state in June, ministers from donor countries and the so-called Quartet on the Middle East said following talks here Thursday.
"At the request of the PA, a new international donors’ conference for the Palestinian State will be held in Paris in June 2011," a statement released after the talks said.

The group also "call(s) on Israel to take more ambitious, structural measures to continue to ease access and movement" of Palestinians.
The announcement came after the French government hosted international peacebrokers for talks aimed to boost flagging efforts for Palestinian statehood.
Salam Fayyad, the Palestinian prime minister, took part in the talks with representatives of the Quartet -- the EU, Russia, the United States and the United Nations.
The meeting hosted by France's Foreign Minister Michele Alliot-Marie reviewed progress following a 2007 conference at which international donors promised $7.7 billion (5.6 billion euros) in aid to the Palestinians over three years.
The statement released after the meeting called on the international community "to continue its efforts beyond what was initially pledged in Paris in 2007, and transfer their budgetary assistance as soon as possible."
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